Washington at Dorchester Heights - Gilbert Stuart - 1806
This painting of Washington following his first military actions early in the revolutionary war at Dorchester Heights highlight his leadership and aura as the most important figure in the founding of the new nation. Stuart depicted the burning ships in the harbor from the American artillery up on the hill and highlighted his success in his stance upon a hill, most likely Dorchester Heights.
The Passage of the Delaware - Thomas Sully - 1819
This depiction following the colonial army's passage of the Delaware also depicts Washington as a great leader on his white horse, another symbol of leadership. The colonial army escaped certain defeat by crossing the Delaware which later allowed them to win the war. Sully shows that they brought their whole army with them by showing all of the men running around and bringing their artillery with them.
George Washington - Horatio Greenough - 1831
This final depiction of Washington only from the chest up deftly shows his commanding gaze and stern face. With both of these things, he commanded men and brought them through hell during the war and a country through its first years. His leadership was his most important quality as General and President which shaped the powers of the executive office for generations to come
Sword and Scabbard - Thomas H. Watson and Andrew Ellicot Warner - 1805-1812
Although this sword was made after the Revolutionary War, it would have been fitting at George Washington's hip. Saying "Liberty and Independence," it represents all that the colonists fought for. Those two words are two of the most important principles in our nation's foundation and are relevant today.
Paul Revere - John Singleton Copley - 1768
Copley's portrait of Paul Revere shows him as a classic, hardworking American. He is in his work clothes that he would wear as a silver smith. He also includes the teapot that he had made to show the care he takes in his work. The portrait depicts his distinct American attitude that also reflects the American Dream in that he takes pride in his work and is able to advance his social stature through continued hard work.
Engagement Between the Constitution and the Guerriére - Thomas Birch - 1813
This painting of the American ship, the USS Constitution, sinking the British ship, the Guerriére, depicts one of the most important victories for the Americans in the War of 1812. The ship received its nickname "Old Ironsides" in this very battle. Birch included American flags billowing atop the USS Constitution. These show American pride and highlight one of the few military successes from a real military strategist as opposed to a blunder in the war of 1812.
USS Constitution - William F. Spicer, M. L. Buschmann, J. Gregory Wiggins - 1928
The USS Constitution, commissioned in 1794 and made in 1797 to protect American merchants ships from pirates, was one of the most technologically advanced ships during its era. It had a stronger hull, more guns, and more sail than those of Europeans. Because of its thicker hull which repelled British cannonballs in the War of 1812, it received the name "Old Ironsides" from a British sailor aboard the Guerriére who watched his ships futile attempts to broadside the USS Constitution. Because this ship was so important for the new republic's navy and early success as a country, the USS Constitution still is on active military duty in Boston.
The Squatters - George Caleb Bingham - 1850
Squatters, frontiersmen who lived off of what they could find/shoot as opposed to farm as the country expanded west, were important to the expansion of the United States. They would claim new territory as the country moved further and further west by physically moving themselves into it, or "squatting" on it. They would then leave it to the farmers/settlers who had more longterm goals with this land and would then continue west. They were significant to our expanding nation for their loose claims to land that eventually became annexed into the US.
Valley of the Yosemite - Albert Bierstadt - 1864
Bierstadt's beautiful depictions of the western, unsettled parts of the continental US generated a sense of wonder and hope for settling the new land. His depiction of the Yosemite Valley, while obviously beautiful, also has a somewhat divine quality shown through the light shining over the river. These subtle notions were enough to convince families to pack up and move west. Bierstadt even called Yosemite the "most magnificent place I was ever in." He himself believed in the awe, beauty, and hope of the west.
Expulsion from the Garden of Eden - Thomas Cole - 1828
Cole shows the difference between Eden, the paradise in the right half of the painting, with the brutal, harsh real world in the left half of the painting. God forced Adam and Eve to leave this paradise. This painting, in relation to the westward expansion of the United States, brings about some interesting moral notions and questions. Ironically, it shows that westward expansion from the paradise in the east only brings settlers to the harsh, unforgiving west. It also discourages settlers from going in the first place, opposite from Bierstadt's beautiful depictions.